Tearful Rodman says he doesn't want people to think of him as the 'devil'

View full sizeFormer NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman speaks to the media during a news conference in New York, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Rodman is going back to North Korea, and he says he will bring a team of former NBA players with him. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In an interview with ESPN's Mark Schwarz, Rodmen grew emotional talking about how he had wanted to do "happy things" by visiting the leader of one of the world's most repressive governments, but that things had not worked out that way.

Rodman went to North Korea in January to help leader Kim Jong Un celebrate his birthday. He took a group of former NBA players with him to put on an exhibition basketball game.

The United States government has launched a federal investigationinto gifts Rodman took to Un on that trip, including a fur coat, Jameson whiskey, a Mulberry handbag and several bottles of Rodman's liquor brand, Bad Ass Vodka.

It's possible that the gifts violated international sanctions in place against North Korea that prohibit anyone from bringing more than $10,000 in "luxury goods" into the country.